


What Ifs and Maybes

by OnyxDay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Indian Harry, PoC Harry, PoC Sirius, Raising Harry, Vietnamese Sirius
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-03 06:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5280662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxDay/pseuds/OnyxDay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Sirius and Remus raised Harry?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Not every story begins with a 'Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much'. Likewise, not ever story ends with an 'All is well'.

This story begins, as most stories of this nature do, with a boy who is not quite as perfectly normal as the aforementioned Mr and Mrs Dursley. No, this boy is very peculiar indeed. (A fact that would no doubt send these perfectly normal Dursleys into a right tizzy.) This remarkably strange boy, on an unremarkably average day, is currently sat on an unremarkable bench by an unremarkable park, waiting for an unremarkable bus. He would seem to all the world like an average boy, that lives an average life, if it weren't for the pale scar that runs down his dark forehead, splintering out like a bolt of lightning. Furthermore, the fact that instead of being accompanied by a similarly dark-skinned father, he's joined by a large black dog would signal to any passerby that perhaps this little boy is not quite as normal as one would presume. The boy is made all the more peculiar by the fact that he seems to be talking to the dog, and not in the way that young children talk to animals, but as if the dog could really understand him. The boy even asks the great beast questions as though it possesses some sort of knowledge other dogs lack and is able to respond to him in kind. Had Mr Dursley of number four, Privet Drive seen this unorthodox behavior, he would have most likely muttered to himself about the states of kids today and parents who didn't know how to discipline their child. But never mind that boring old Mr Dursley, because, as all of us In The Know are aware, dogs are quite smart creatures, but none so smart as this young boy's.

Indeed, just at this moment, the dog's ears twitch and he jumps up, waging his tail and looking between the corner and the boy. As the young boy stands the bus rounds the corner and the dog gives an excited yip at the sight. The boy, who's name happens to be Harry James Potter (for those of you that are interested in such things), smiles at the dog and digs into his pockets for his bus pass. With his pass held firmly in hand he clips a leash to the dog's collar with a look of regret. The dog's tail immediately ceases its excited wagging and his head turns to face the boy with a sad look on his canine face.

"Sorry Padfoot, you can't get on the bus without a leash, you know that," comments Harry, scratching behind the dog's ears. Padfoot, as the dog is named, wines and looks at the boy with large, sad grey eyes. Harry pouts at him and crosses his six year old arms. "I can't let you off Padfoot! Uncle Moony will be mad at us, and he won't let us have any chocolate!" It would perhaps seems strange to a passerby to hear a young boy use such a threat against a dog, for it is common knowledge that dogs cannot eat chocolate. Yet, the boy holds the threat over his dog confidently.

Padfoot seems to shrink down, as though thoroughly chastened by Harry's words and the mention of this 'Uncle Moony'. Harry nods in pleasure and smiles to himself. The unremarkable bus pulls up to the stop with a rather loud screeching of breaks. The doors hiss open and Harry climbs into the vehicle, tugging a reluctant Padfoot along with him, and swipes his bus pass where the bus passes are swiped. He pulls Padfoot along with him as he walks to the back of the bus. Their destination is a long way from the unremarkable park he had been playing in for most of the day.

Harry sits down on the uncomfortable bus seats and Padfoot jumps onto the seat next to him and rests his large head on the boy's leg. Harry looks down and scratches behind his ears.

"I know you don't like the bus, but you can't use your magic or the Min'stry will be mad and they'll send 'rors after us. Moony's almost got it fig'red, then we can Ap'rate all over, and we can get Dad's cloak so we don't ever hafta worry about the Muggles seeing us, and we won't ever hafta use the bus again," Harry tells the dog in one long stream-of-consciousness breath that only the youngest of children and the most caffeinated of Uni students can manage. Padfoot huffs and turns away, as though he had heard the argument a million times, yet still doubted it's veracity.

There is no doubt in this author's mind that had someone overhears the boy's words they would not have noticed the dog's strange actions, but rather the strange words the boy had used. Perhaps they would have asked themselves what a Muggle was, and what this 'Min'stry" and their mysterious ''rors' had to do with it. Luckily for Harry and Padfoot, no one was close enough to have overheard the strange words.

Quite some time later, many miles from the park, Harry disembarks the bus. He is followed not by a large dog, but rather a young man with stylishly long black hair and glimmering grey eyes. No one seems to notice this change of companion, which is perfectly fine with the boy and his guardian. The two of them proceed to walk a ways from the bus stop, turn the corner into a dark alley between an ice cream shop and a bookstore, and promptly disappear with a sound like a car engine backfiring.

Many miles away, in a small village far from the hustle and bustle of the city, a young boy with a lightning scar and a young man with long black hair walk out from behind a particularly old tree near the edge of the bordering forest. None of the inhabitants of said village pay them any mind, except to offer kind smiles and a treat for the young boy. Harry smiles back at them and thanks them for the small cakes and sweets, sharing a few with his guardian. The townsfolk nod at the man and converse about such things that adults feel the need to converse about. One such townsperson, a woman with a penchant for gossip and matchmaking, asks him if he is ever going to find a nice girl to settle down with, and remarks that spending so much time without a mother figure couldn't be good for poor Harry, and had he met Mrs Harris's niece, she's a beautiful girl and wouldn't he like it if she could add a nice feminine touch to that dreary old cabin he and Mr Lupin share? The man smiles nervously and subtlety taps Harry on the shoulder, prompting the young boy to yawn as if he were thoroughly exhausted by his busy day, though the young boy still felt energetic. The man smiles at the woman and picks up the boy (who was, in Harry's opinion, far too old to be picked up in such a way, thank-you-very-much, as he was now six and that meant he was a Big Boy) before apologizing. He explains that they had a very long day, and poor Harry really should be getting home for his nap. He carries Harry all the way down the old dirt road toward the small cottage at the edge of the village that they currently inhabited.

The man opens the cottage door and smiles as the smell of home fills his nose. He also smells the distinct scent of stew and fresh baked bread.

"Moony, we're home!" The man calls, setting down Harry and walking toward the kitchen. Harry takes that as his cue to run to his room and play with his toys.

"Hello Sirius," a much taller man with slightly greying brown curls turns and smiles at Sirius when he steps into the cozy kitchen, "how was the park with Harry?"

"It was great! Harry swung on the swings, and we played fetch, and there was this girl with really bushy hair that came over and to play with us and she gave me part of her sandwich!" Sirius regales happily. His smiles slips into a frown and his eyebrows furrow. "But then her mum came over and asked Harry where his parents were, and Harry told her they were dead. So she asked where his guardian was, and Harry pointed over to me and said 'Padfoot looks after me when we play, and Uncle Moony looks after me at home, except sometimes they have to go away and Mrs Harris looks after me, except I don't like Mrs Harris because she smells like cats'," Sirius's voice goes high as he imitates his godson, but then his shoulders slump. "I don't like not being able to go out with my godson as myself Moony, and Harry can't keep going out with just Padfoot. More people will start to notice that he doesn't have a parent with him," Sirius frowns, resting his back against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know Pads, but we can't risk someone recognizing you. You know the Ministry has been circulating your face all over the Muggle news channels, not to mention the wizards looking for any sign of you," Remus carefully wipes off his hands and reaches out fro Sirius, caressing his cheek. Sirius sighs and leans into the touch, closing his eyes. "As soon as we can figure out how to find Peter, and prove your innocence, you can take Harry out as much as you like," Remus leans down and presses a kiss against Sirius's forehead.

"You've been saying that for five years Moons, and we're still no closer to figuring it out," Sirius opens his eyes again and stares up sadly into Remus's amber eyes.

"We already have your plea prepared, we just need to find Peter. If we can find him, we can prove you didn't do it," Remus reassures him, stroking his long fingers through Sirius's long hair. Sirius laughs coldly and shakes his head.

"Peter could be anywhere in the world. How do you suppose we find one rat in a world of them? Even just one specific rat in England would be difficult," Sirius scoffs, "it'll never work. I'm doomed!" Sirius sighs dramatically.

"I'd tell you to stop being dramatic, but I don't think you know how, Padfoot," Remus smiles, rolling his eyes.

The tall, scarred young man smiles as he remembers his time as an adolescent in a quite remarkable school known as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The school itself is located somewhere in Scotland, though if someone like Mr Dursley or Mrs Harris were to attempt to look for it, all they would find is on old castle, crumbling away in the highlands. The reason for this is, if the name itself didn't already give it away, that the school is magic. Rather, there is magic in the school. Special spells have been placed on the grounds so that no Muggle (non-magical folk to answer that question from the bus), can stumble across it by accident. I'm sure you can imagine the mess it would make if some poor unsuspecting Muggle were to wander upon a castle where children ages eleven though eighteen were flying about on brooms and waving around sticks all day. Now, when Remus Lupin and Sirius Black turned eleven they were both accepted into this magical school, along with one James Potter (father of Harry incidentally), Lily Evans (who became Lily Potter), and Peter Pettigrew. I'm sure you know all about the incidents that occurred at Hogwarts between the years 1971 and 1978, so I won't bore you with all the details. As it happens though, our Remus Lupin was, at that very moment, thinking of a very particular event in his life at Hogwarts: the completion of The Marauder's Map.

"That's it!" Remus exclaims. Sirius sits up and levels him with a confused look. "The Map! The Marauder's Map!"

"What in the name of Merlin are you talking about?" Sirius questions him, contemplating if he should call someone to check on Moony's mental health.

"The Map could find him! Or something similar, at least. We wouldn't even need to track everyone, just Peter," Remus rushes over to the other side of the kitchen, which is, admittedly, not that far away, and grabs a notebook because honestly it's ridiculous to expect two twenty-somethings to keep track of sheaves of parchment with a six year old around. "We'd need the original Map of course, and our notes. I think I have most of those in some boxes somewhere, and I think James kept his in the Potter vault, so we'd have to go get them, which could be difficult. We'd also need somethings of Peter's so the spells can hone in on it, then we'd just need to draw some maps to narrow it down and we coul-"

"Remus."

Remus stops and turns back to face Sirius. The twenty seven year old's face has far too many lines for a man that young, and the defeated expression on his face shows every one of them.

"Remus, we can't get the Map. It's back at Hogwarts in Filch's office after he confiscated it from Peter in seventh year. Even if we could get to it we had two other Marauders helping us when we created the first Map. I don't know if we could do this without them," Sirius shakes his head again. "It's no use Remus."

"No," Remus strides forward and grips the sides of Sirius's face, tilting it up so he can look directly into the smaller man's grey eyes. "No, we are not just going to give up. We can find Peter, and we can bring him in, and we'll get him to confess, even if we have to Crucio it out of the rat, and then you can take Harry out to parks and wherever else you want to take him. You can be a proper family that goes on proper holidays and you can take him to Diagon Alley and buy him another broom. We can do this, Sirius," Remus brushes a loose strand of hair away from Sirius's face carefully.

"You're wrong," Sirius shakes his head, shaking the strand free again. He looks back up at Remus, if you'll pardon the pun, seriously. " _We_ can be a proper family," Sirius smiles at Remus and stretches up to kiss him lightly on the lips. Remus smiles into the kiss and pulls him closer, kissing him slightly harder.

"Eeeww!" Harry's high six year old voice breaks the relative silence and the two adults step away from each other and look to the doorway, where Harry is standing with a grossed out look on his face, for as you must know, it is never fun to see adults kissing, especially when it's your parental figures. He clutches a stuffed stag with small little circular glasses to his chest.

"C'mere Prongslet!" Sirius says, crouching down and picking up Harry, despite the child's squealing protests and valiant efforts to avoid his godfather's arms. Sirius rests him on his hip and gives Harry a calculating look as the young child sticks out his tongue at him. "What do you think Moony," he turns to the other man and smirks, "shall we have venison tonight?"

Now, Harry, being six, has no idea what 'venison' means, though he can conclude, as can you if you are unfamiliar with the term, that it roughly translates to 'six year olds named Harry Potter'.

"I don't know Padfoot, he looks a little scrawny," Remus responds, considering Harry's figure. "Perhaps we should fatten him up a little more," Remus tickles Harry's sides and smiles at the young boy, who turns his pout to Uncle Moony, deciding Uncle Padfoot has already endured it enough and surely Uncle Moony needs to be properly chastened for his comments.

"You're absolutely right Moony, he does look a bit thin. Short too, don't you think?" Sirius's grey eyes glint in a way that, had he still been at Hogwarts, would have meant he had just pulled of a truly marvelous prank on his brother and his fellow Slytherins. "I think we should do something about that, don't you?" Sirius grips Harry by the legs and flips him upside down, shaking him slightly and causing the boy to squeal in delight. Fortunately, Remus knows Sirius's mind and had the foresight to remove Harry's glasses from his face before Sirius flipped him, which otherwise would have resulted in the eye-wear falling to the floor and breaking. Again. However, this doesn't stop Harry from losing his grip on his deer, or for the subsequent fall endured by said deer.

Remus picks up the toy and sets it carefully on the kitchen counter. He watches them with a fond smile on his scarred face as Harry squeals.

"Moony, I do believe we need another opinion on how edible this young boy is."

"But of course!" Remus takes Harry from Sirius with a grin and watches as his figure seems to shimmer, and then suddenly a large black dog is standing where Sirius just was. "Come on Padfoot!" Remus lowers Harry, despite the child's screams and squeals, and the large dog bounds up to him, licking at face energetically.

"Stop! Stop, Padfoot!" Harry laughs, wiping at his face, swinging slightly with the movement. The large dog sits back on his haunches and watches with a tilted head as Remus sets Harry down. There is a moment, one of those moments best described as the calm before the storm, where Remus makes eye contact with the dog and a sense of dread fills him.

"Padfoot, no!" Remus says, attempting to avoid his fate, but it's too late. The large dog bounds forwards and collides with Remus, sending him through the doorway onto the floor of the living room. Remus laughs as the dog covers his face with kisses, though his nose wrinkles at the dog breath, despite the fact that the dog is, in fact, a person. Harry launches himself at the werewolf (because there is no possible way that a man with the name 'Remus Lupin' is not a werewolf) and attacks his sides with his tiny fingers. Remus roars with laughter as his body constricts from the over-stimulation of the six year old fingers digging into his ribs.

A cough sounds from the fireplace behind them and suddenly Remus has the full weight of a five foot eight inch man on top of him instead of a full grown German Shepard. He groans and pushes Sirius off him and he tilts his head back.

The upside-down head of Arthur Weasley greets him. Remus, as well as Sirius and Harry, picks himself up and grins apologetically at Arthur.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting a family bonding moment," the disembodied head of a portly ginger man says from the green light of their fireplace.

"Not at all, Arthur. You know we always enjoy your check-ins," Remus responds smoothly.

"What do we owe the pleasure, this time?" Sirius asks, having hefted Harry onto his hip and wordlessly and wandlessly Accio'd the child's glasses from the kitchen counter Remus left them on.

"Molly was wondering if you'd like to come round for supper on Saturday. Ron's been asking after Harry and Percy wanted to ask Remus a few more questions about what to expect at Hogwarts," Arthur chuckles and his head turns in a way that, had it been attached to his shoulders, would have translated into an amused shake. "He doesn't trust his brothers enough to ask them, smart lad. Wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor if I'm being honest. And the twins always love it when you come round."

"Of course we'll be there, Arthur," Remus smiles.

"Fantastic! I'll just go tell Molly then!" His head starts to disappear, but comes back suddenly as he remembers another message he is supposed to deliver. His bodiless head turns to face Sirius straight on and his expression is far more serious than before. "Oh, and before I forget, Dumbledore said he might have a lead on how to prove your innocence. Nothing difinitive yet, he just thought you ought to know." With that the fireplace roars green and the flames die back down to their more natural orange.

"That's what, the fifth time this year Dumbledore's had a lead?" Sirius remarks dryly. Remus nods in agreement.

"You know he was fond of James and Lily. He wants Peter found as much as we do," Remus reminds him, though at this point the words have become as stale as month old crackers.

"Are we going to see Ron?" Harry asks excitedly from his perch on Sirius's hip. The former Black heir, for that is one of the many things Sirius is, sets him down on the floor and kneels in front of him.

"That we are Harry! We're going over to see Ron and Ginny and all the other Weasley's on Saturday!" Sirius explains, just as excited at the six year old.

"What day is today, Harry?" Remus asks, kneeling down beside Sirius.

Harry worries at his bottom lip in six year old concentration.

"Today is Wednesday, because we went to the park, and we go to the park on Wednesdays and sometimes Sundays," Harry proclaims proudly. Remus grins at him encouragingly.

"That's right, Harry! Today is Wednesday, and we're going to the Weasley's on Saturday. How many days is that?" Remus prompts. Sirius holds up his hand for Harry to count on and both of the adults watch as Harry carefully touches a tiny finger to Sirius's much larger ones.

"Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!" Harry exclaims as he counts on Sirius's hand. "That's four days! Except it's three and a half 'cause today's Wednesday and it's almost over!" Harry beams at Remus and Sirius, the latter of whom grins right back and holds up his other hand for his godson to high five. He does, cheerfully at that.

"That's right Bambi. Just three and a half days and you get to see your friends again," Sirius reassures him. Harry considers this statement, then frowns and shakes his head.

"No, 'cause I've got loads of friends! There's Ron and Ginny and Fred and George and Percy and Charlie and Bill, and I'll see them Saturday. But there's also 'Moine and Dean and Alec and Lisa and Frankie, and I don't see them all the time, only sometimes on Wednesdays and sometimes Sunday if I'm extra special good. And I don't see them all the time, 'cause sometimes they're not at the park and sometimes we go to different parks. But that's okay, 'cause if we don't we'd get caught and you and Moony would hafta go away with the 'rors," Harry's large green eyes, so like his mother's, look up at his guardians widely. "And then I'd hafta live with Aunty Petunia and Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley, and I don't like them!"

"Don't worry Prongslet, we won't let that happen," Sirius reassures him after exchanging a worried and slightly amused look with Remus. Harry just grins at them.

"I know!" He tells them, skipping away happily to his room in that way young children do.

The look shared between Remus and Sirius this time has lost the amused part and is just worried.


	2. Chapter 2

Now, if you remember I said that stories begin in many ways and blah blah blah. Well, on that note, this story's true beginning is not with a remarkable young boy and his remarkable dog waiting for an unremarkable bus by an unremarkable park. This story has many beginnings before that, and even many beginnings after, but the real beginning of this particular story happened on October 31st, 1981. As you most likely already know, that was the night Lily Potter nee Evans and James Potter were killed via the Killing Curse by one Tom Riddle, more commonly known as Lord Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or You-Know-Who. This left poor little Harry Potter, only a year old, without his parents.

Now, here's the interesting part of this familiar story. There was a moment, a blink and you'll miss it it moment, where Harry's life could have gone a completely different direction. He could have ended up in a basket on his Aunt Petunia's doorstep with a note from Albus Dumbledore. He could have grown up in an abusive house and rarely felt love until the age of eleven. This Harry would be angry, scared, and most likely very reckless. Luckily for Harry, his life did not end up that way, I mean could you even imagine?

No, luckily for Harry his godfather Sirius Black is not a complete idiot and Apperated away from the scene of the crime after Peter cut off his finger and blasted the street, killing those Muggles. Also luckily for Harry, Remus was willing to open the door for a dust covered black dog on November 1st, 1981 and hear the story the slightly hysterical Sirius Black told. Luckily for Harry, his father's best friends, being Marauders, devised a clever plan to steal Harry from his Aunt's clutches. Luckily for Harry, and Sirius and Remus at that, Petunia and Vernon did not want to raise a half-Indian orphan that had magic, so they happily gave Harry to the two men with very minimal threatening.

Unluckily for Harry, there were other Muggles on that street that saw Sirius and, before they were Obliviated, told the Aurors they saw a man with long black hair point a wooden stick at the man he called Peter right before the blast took out the street. This of course means that the Ministry is on the lookout for the traitor Black, who sold out his friends and murdered poor Peter Pettigrew and is now on the run with known associate Remus Lupin.

November 28th, 1981 found Remus Lupin and Padfoot with a year old Harry in the field surrounding the Burrow, the magically enlarged house belonging to the Weasley family. While they only really knew each other in passing at Hogwarts, the way many housemates did, the two of them had heard a great many things about Molly Prewett and her husband Arthur Weasley from the Prewett twins, Fabian and Gideon. They were hoping the fellow Gryffindors would hear out their story instead of immediately calling the Ministry and sending Aurors after them.

Padfoot pads along behind Moony, the tall grass passing by in shades of grey as they carefully make their way toward the Weasley's front door. Remus's head is almost constantly twisting around to watch their back and check for someone following them. One hand grips Harry's back and keeps the sleeping child to his chest, and the other keeps a tight grip on his wand. Padfoot's own hackles are raised and his ears are constantly twitching around, listening for out of place sounds. They are habits left over from the war they only just escaped and, not even a month after the unfortunate circumstance that brought about that end, they have yet to rid themselves of those habits.

"Remember, as soon as you hear Arthur at the door, transform back. Not a moment earlier, not a moment later," his eyes flick down at the dog briefly before scanning their surroundings again. "Understood?"

Padfoot nods his head and watches as Remus's shoulders relax for a fraction of a second before tensing again. The large dog's head looks around and his nose twitches again as he scents their surroundings, but there's nothing unusual. Remus turns down a dirt path toward the mismatched house Sirius's distant cousins inhabit. Remus shifts Harry carefully in his arms so not to disturb the sleeping child, for the screams the tiny lungs could unleash could summon the Aurors all the way in London. They both pause before the Weasley front door and Remus hovers a fist over the wooden door, glancing down at Padfoot. Remus knocks twice and Padfoot's ears twitch as they listen for footsteps. Heavy steps approach the door and Sirius shifts back to human form just as Arthur Weasley opens his front door.

"Remus? What?" His blue eyes flicker over to the man beside him and he pales, taking a step back. "Siri-"

"He's innocent!" Remus interrupts. "It's okay, he's innocent, I promise!" Arthur looks back to Remus and finally notices the sleeping child in his arms.

"Is that-?"

"It's Harry," Remus nods and looks over Arthur's shoulder into the house, then behind him into the open field. "May we come inside? It's too exposed out here for what we need to tell you."

Sirius has kept his grey eyes on the field and road behind them since the moment Arthur opened the door.

"I, er, well, that is to say, uh, I suppose?" Arthur's eyes keep flickering between Harry, Sirius, and Remus as he stutters.

"Thanks Arthur, we'll try to be brief," Remus says as he shoulders into the house, Sirius following him quickly, leaving Arthur to close the door behind them.

"Who was that, dear?" Molly Weasley asks as she steps into the entry, looking down at her apron as she wipes her hands.

"Hello, Mols," Sirius greets her happily. Molly's head snaps up and her mouth falls open. Remus sighs and shakes his head, hands already moving to cover Harry's ears. "Now, before you say anything-"

"SIRIUS BLACK! IN MY HOUSE! YOU MURDEROUS TRAITOR! HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING TO YOUR BEST FRIEND?! AND NOW YOU DARE WALK INTO MY HOME AS IF YOU AREN'T WANTED BY THE MINISTRY! AND HOW DO YOU GREET ME? AS IF WE WERE FRIENDS!" Molly's face has gone as red as her hair as she yells at Sirius. The young man shrinks down at the words like a slowly deflating balloon. She takes another breath but before she can, Remus has handed a crying Harry to his godfather and stands in between the angry woman and the man he loves. His expression is cold and murderous.

"Listen to me Molly Weasley, and listen carefully. Sirius is completely innocent of all charges laid against him. He would never, NEVER, have betrayed James or Lily like that, and if you remember anything from our time at Hogwarts you would know that. He's Harry's godfather for Merlin's sake! Do you really think he would do that to Harry?" Remus's voice is eerily calm as he stares Molly down.

Two young boys, a few years older than Harry, waddle into the room, their brown eyes wide and their red hair fluffy. Their wide eyes flicker between their parents and the two strangers in their home. They briefly rest on a sniffling Harry before returning to their father's face.

"Mum was yellin'," the boy on the left says as he grips his twin's hand.

"Ron got scared," the other twin said.

Arthur kneels down and looks his sons in the eyes. "It's alright, boys. Why don't you go up and play with your brothers, alright?" The boys glance at Remus and Sirius one last time before nodding as they leave the room.

"Let's move this to the kitchen," Arthur suggests, standing back up and gesturing over to the room Molly just came from. Molly chases after him, her voice low as she whispers at him sharply, but both Sirius and Remus can hear her.

"Honestly, Arthur you can't just invite a wanted criminal into our home!" She scolds him, glancing nervously back at them.

"Molly, you know how close Black and Potter were at Hogwarts. Do you really think he would have done what the Ministry says he did?" Arthur whispers back.

"But he's a Black!" Molly hisses back at him.

"And so was my mother!" Arthur responds, voice no longer quiet.

"I think you'll find, Molly dearest, that I am, in fact, only a Black in name and that it has been this way since I was sixteen," Sirius responds, brushing past her into the kitchen. Her cheeks flame again.

Of course, dear reader, it could be said that Sirius Black stopped being a Black the moment he was sorted into Gryffindor, but that is neither here nor there.

"Please, do sit down. We'd love to hear your side of what happened," Arthur tells them, gesturing to the empty seats at the table. Remus looks at Sirius and Harry and frowns.

"Could we perhaps let Harry play with your children? I'd prefer it if he weren't here for this," Remus asks them with a smile. "I'll take him up," he adds at Molly's suspicious glance at Sirius.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt," Molly acquiesces, sparing another glance to Sirius.

"Sirius, would you mind starting while I take Harry to-?" Remus looks at Molly and Arthur for guidance.

"Bill's room. Fourth floor," Molly replied.

"To Bill's room. I'll be back in just a moment," Remus smiles and leans down to take Harry from Sirius and to give Sirius a soft kiss on the forehead. He smiles again as he leaves the room.

Sirius clears his throat once Remus is gone and stares down at the table for a moment before looking up at Arthur and Molly.

"I'm very sorry about Fabian and Gideon, Mols. I meant to owl after I heard, but there was no time. They were good people," Sirius focuses on Molly and watches as her eyes grow sad. "We lost a lot of good people in this war, a lot of friends and family," he looks down at the table again and wrings his hands. "I'm sure you both are aware that we believed there was a traitor in the Order," he looks up and catches their nods. "Dumbledore and Moody believed that it had to be one of the Marauders, given the information that was leaked to the Death Eaters. It seemed ridiculous at first, but it was war. None of us suspected James or Lily, of course, not when their son was You-Know-Who's target. And no one believed Peter able of betraying his only friends. After Hogwarts, Remus and I moved in together, so we knew each other's movements better than anyone. Remus began to leave for long stretches of time, and he wouldn't tell me where he would go or what he was doing. I grew suspicious, Remus's odd behavior coupled with the knowledge that one of us was the traitor..." Sirius shakes his head sadly.

"Most of the Order thought the traitor had to be Sirius," Remus adds as he reenters the room. "Like you said Molly, he's a Black." Molly at least has the decency to look ashamed. "Sirius began to close himself off to me, which only ever happened when he was hiding something from me, and of course I believed that he was hiding the fact that he was a traitor," Remus's mouth twists into a bitter frown. "It didn't help that we had a rat whispering doubts into our ears, pitting us against each other so we wouldn't suspect the real culprit." Remus clenches his fists and breathes deeply. Sirius rests a hand over his and squeezes.

"When James and Lily were forced into hiding, Dumbledore suggested a Fidelis Charm to keep their location secret. James asked me to be his Secret Keeper, but I knew I would be the obvious choice. I was afraid the Death Eaters would force it out of me, so I told them to pick Peter, since I didn't trust Remus at the time. I thought no one would think James would pick Peter over his best friend. I thought Peter was a safe choice."

"When Sirius came home that night we fought, both of us accusing the other of being the spy. We said a lot of things we regret. Sirius stormed out in a rage and I left to go on my next mission. About four months later Sirius came home fresh from a particularly bad battle. I was only home because Dumbledore canceled my mission. As I was healing his wounds, Sirius mentioned wanting to visit Harry. It was then that we realized we remembered where the Potter's were hiding, and before I could even finish fixing all of his injuries he had fled the apartment and," Remus glances at Arthur, knowing he worked for the Improper Use of Muggle Artifacts Department in the Ministry, but figured he wouldn't say anything, "got on his flying motorcycle." Remus's grip on Sirius's hand tightens.

"It was still smoking when I got there. The roof over Harry's room had been blown completely off, rubble littered the street. I ran inside," Sirius squeezes his eyes shut. "James was- his body was still by the door. He didn't even have his wand, the stupid prick. I could hear Harry crying in his room, so I ran upstairs. He was in his crib and his head was bleeding. Lily was crumpled in front of the crib and He-Wh- Voldemort," he ignores Molly and Arthur's gasps, "was still lying in front of hers, his wand still in his hand." Sirius's jaw clenches and his grip tightens.

"When I got there after telling Dumbledore, I found Sirius upstairs, kicking Voldemort's face in. Harry was still crying, but luckily Sirius's body blocked his view of what he was doing. I picked Harry up and wiped off the blood on his forehead. I made sure to shelter him from the sight of his parents', well..." Remus trails off uncomfortably, reliving the night again. He clears his throat and shakes his head free of the images. "Hagrid was waiting for us when we got outside. He said Dumbledore was going to send Harry off to live with Lily's sister. I argued, said that Sirius was Harry's godfather, so Harry was his responsibility. Sirius just asked me to take care of his bike, then Apperated away. Hagrid took Harry to Petunia's since I had no legal claim over him."

"I went after Peter. Confronted him. The rat knew I would come after him and had a plan ready. I had only just drawn my wand when Peter cut off his bloody finger and blasted the street to bits. I Apperated away before the Aurors could arrive and fled to an old hideout that I knew Remus would be waiting in."

"We went after Harry a few days later and Petunia happily handed him over. Petunia and her husband Vernon are the worst kind of Muggles, even by their standards. They didn't want anyone to know their nephew was half-Indian, so they kept him in a cupboard under the stairs. We took him away from them and we've been running pretty much ever since, staying in various Muggle towns and avoiding Wizards as much as we can. Sirius and Harry are far too recognizable, and after the Ministry gave his photo to the Muggle police it's been hard to stay unrecognized. We owled Dumbledore and explained the switch and that we needed a place to hide until we can find somewhere for ourselves. He told us to come to you."

"We don't mean to impose, but we don't really have a better option. It would only be for a few months, three tops," Sirius adds, giving them his best puppy dog eyes, which are, too be fair, very impressive.

"How exactly are we supposed to believe you?" Molly demands. As she speaks there is a tapping at the kitchen window.

"That should be the owl Dumbledore said he's send," Remus comments, standing from the kitchen table and opening the window. A large grey owl hops onto his arm and Remus takes the letter from its beak, wincing when it nips him. "Here you go Molly," he hands her the letter, "where do you keep your owl treats? Oh, never mind, I've found them." He reaches up and takes down a glass container full of small treats from the owl.

Sirius waits in tense silence as Molly and Arthur read over Dumbledore's words, hands twisting together nervously in his lap. When they finally set down the letter he watches them carefully.

"I suppose we could find a spare cot or two," Molly acquiesces, sharing a look with Arthur.

Remus and Sirius exchange relieved glances and both of their shoulders finally relax.


End file.
